Needle-holder for knitting-machines.



No. 795,179. PATENTED JULY 18,1905.

E. TOMPKINS.

NEEDLE HOLDER FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 11,1904.

Ill

1 A l III WITNESSES INVENTOI? fimcbwdf 1 27765? 75/30/0775 Patented July18, 1905.

PATENT tries.-

ERNEST TOMPKINS, OF TROY, NEW' YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FREDERICKl/V. J. MGKIBBIN, OF TROY, NEW YORK.

NEEDLE-HOLDER FOR KNITTING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 795,179, dated July 18,1905.

Application filed July 11, 1904. Serial No. 216,039.

ting-machines, and has particular reference to machines in which theneedles are attached to the periphery of cylinders. There are at presentin common use two kinds of cylinders for spring-needle machines, thatmost commonly used being called the leadedneedle-cylinder, in which theneedles are cast in lead bases that can be clamped to the periphery ofthe cylinder under an overhanging flange on the upper edge thereof inthe most common construction. In this kind of machine the needles areheld in good alinement and the metal base being broader than the needlegives a securer hold for the needle-cap and the base being generally ofsoft metal, such as lead, will yield a little at the'place where theneedle enters, so that the latter is not as liable to break off at theshank or at the point of connection to the cylinder as it is in machinesin which the needles are directly clamped between hard-metal surfaces.The leaded needles, moreover, can be held very securely, and if theywear loose in their bases the base can be replaced again. A. pluralityof needles may be cast in one base for some classes of work, whichlessens the difficulty of assembling them. Further, the cylinder for theleaded needles may be conveniently made on one piece, which enables itto be turned very true and gives a better alinement and feed. to theneedles. There are various disadvantages in this class of needles,however, among which is the difficulty of assembling'the needles inalinement, owing to the lack of any vertical support therefor while theyare being placed in the machine, they being retained in position andsupported. by a single clamp. They are also liable to be burred incutting or trimbent at right angles.

ming or casting, so that the adjacent needles (whose bases should litvery closely together in this class of machines) will sometimes beunevenly separated, and owing to their bases abutting directly againsteach other it sometimes happens that the needles are tipped slightly,and these difficulties are enhanced when needles have to be replaced, asthe new bases will seldom fit accurately in place of an old one, andalthough the arrangement of needles when first set up may be perfect thewear and compression thereon soon causes disarrangement of the needlesfrom true alinement,

and this difliculty is enhanced when changes or substitution of needlesare required. While these defects are very minute in each instance, theynevertheless result in imperfect work and in the aggregate become veryserious. Another style of cylinder commonly used is what is called thetrick-cylinder, which is usually made in two pieces, a hub and what maybe called a removable trick-top. This top is milled with a series ofparallel grooves 01' tricks in its periphery and radial coincidentgrooves in its end edge, and the needles in this class of cylinders havetheir lower ends Their shanks it in the vertical grooves or tricks, andthey are bent off into the groove. The advantages of this constructionare that the trick-needles are accurately spaced and are not liable tovary, as do the leaded needles. The trick-needles cannot tip out ofvertical position, as the shanks are held vertically in alinement by thetricks; neither can they crowd each other, as leaded needles frequentlydo, owing to variation in the metal bases. dles in the cylinder is fixedand is not liable to change, and if a needle breaks only one needle hasto be removed, while the leaded needles frequently have a plurality ofneedles in one base, and if one breaks all the needles have to be thrownaway.

The disadvantages of the trick-cylinder are that the needles frequentlybreak off at the bend, which renders it very troublesome to replacethem. They are held in place by a front cushion of leather or other softmaterial, which indents and does not hold the nee The number oftrick-needie securely in time. The trick-cylinder cannot be replacedreadily and will not hold the needle securely after it has once becomeworn.

There are other disadvantages of both the leaded-needle construction andthe trick-needle construction which it is unnecessary to point outhere,thefo1:egoing being sufficient to enable one familiar with the artto comprehend the nature and advantages of my invention, which isdesigned to retain all the advantages of both the leaded and trickcylinder eonstructions and has additional advantages of its own andeliminates all the disadvantages inherentto the leaded-needle cylinderand trick-needle cylinder which are above pointed out.

I will now proceed to describe my improvestanding thereof, and refer tothe claims following the description for concise summaries of thefeatures for which. protection is desired.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a detail plan view of part of mycombinationcylinder, partly in section and showing the needles inposition, but greatly exaggerated. Fig. 2 is a detail section on line 22 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3

and 4 are detailface views of part of the cylinder embodying myimprovements. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the needlesdetached. Figs. 6 and 7 are detail side and sectional views of amodification.

A designates the needle-cylinder, which is preferably made in one piece,although it may be made in sections if desired to change the gagefrequently. This cylinder has a circumferentialgroove B in its outerface at the point where the needles are attached, and it has in thisface a series of vertical tricks or grooves. C, which are at rightangles to the groove B- The needles E are of ordinary construction, butare provided with cast-metal bases F, which are shaped on their innerfaces, as My, to engage the tricks C in the face of the cylinder, bywhich the needle will be kept in vertical alinement and prevented fromlateral displacement. The bases also have projecting lugs f, whichengage the groove B and support the needle-base and prevent verticalmovement of the needles. By means of the tricks 0 and groove B theneedle-bases and. attached needles are kept from displacement bothlaterally and longitudinally, and

when the bases are secured by means of the usual clamping-plates G it isimpossible for the needles to get out of alinement. The clamp-plates Gmay be fastened by bolts g, tapped into the cylinder, as indicated inthe drawings. One or more needles may be cast in each base F, ifdesired. If desired, the inner face of the plates Ur maybe faced withleather or soft material 5 to contact with the ed, as the bases cannotmove sidewise.

them securely to the cylinder.- By this arrangement not only is thealinement of the exposed portions of the needles obtained by mechanicalmeans, but I obtain exact correct spacing-and exact vertical position oralinement of the needles. They cannot be crowd- Nevertheless, theneedles have a substantial base,

which affords asecure hold for the needlecaps, and are not liable tobreak at the shank, as they are in. the ordinary trick-cylinder. Theneedles can be held in the molds, so that when the base is cast uponthem they will be in true position, and these bases when assem bled inmy improved combination-cylinder as shown in the drawings will be inexact alinement. The needles usually warp or bend in the shanks, andthis bond will be taken care of in the metal base.

It will be seen that my needles havea lead ed baseand can be morereadily handled than the ordinary. trick-needles, are securely held inexact parallelism and cannot move laterally or vertically, and can beplaced and will remain in position until the clamps are. properlysecured, and do not have to be held in place until the clamps areadjusted.

In the modification shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the cylinder is provided witha series of peri1)herally-projecting trick-lugs H, which are arrangedvertically and parallel, one lug for each needle-base, and theneedle-bases F are provided with thick sockets F of a size and shapecorresponding to the lugs H and adapted to lit over the latter, and thushold the needles in alinement vertically and horizontally and preventdisplacement of the needles in any direction.

Obviously other modifications of construction may suggest themselves,and I do not wish to restrict myself to the specific forms shown in thedrawings, although the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 l. now'deeinpreferable; but 1 believe myself to be the lirst to have used a cylinderprovided with means for engagement with the leaded bases of the needle,whereby such needles are individually held so they cannot be displacedlaterally or longitudinally.

Iilaving thus described my invention, I clain1' 1. A cylinder nevidedwith tricks in combination with needles attached to bases adapted toengage the tricks and hold the needles stationary.

2. A cylinder provided with tricks in combination with needles havingleaded bases to en gage the tricks and hold the need lcs stationary.

3. A needle-cylinder having vertical tricks and a circumferentialgroove; with needles having leaded bases adapted to engage the tricksand groove.

4. A knitting-maclline-cylinder having a circumferential groove andvertical tricks, and

outer surfaces of the needle-bases and clamp l needles having leadedbases adapted to engage the tricks, and provided With lugs adapted toengage the groove.

5. In combination, a knitting-machine cylinder having vertical tricks inits periphery, and a circumferential groove in its peripheryintersecting the tricks, and needles having leaded bases adapted toengage the tricks and the groove of the cylinder.

6. In combination, a knitting-machine cylinder having vertical tricks inits periphery angular in cross-section, and a circumferential groove inits periphery intersecting the tricks, and needles having bases adaptedto engage the tricks and provided with lugs to engage the groove of thecylinder.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I aflix mysignature inpresence of tWo Witnesses. ERNEST TOMPKINS.

In presence of WARREN L. PACKARD, FREDK. W. J. MGKIBBIN.

